Genesis 13-14 - Part B

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That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. In verse 4, he gets to Bethel. And at Bethel was an altar that we saw at the beginning in chapter 12 that he made there at first, and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. Now, he did not call upon the name of the Lord while in Egypt. There is no reference to him either pitching his tent or building an altar.

He was just escaping the famine. Here he goes back to the altar. So, he remembers where he had come from, the altar of worship that he was enjoying with the Lord in chapter 12.

He remembers that. He repents from what his unbelief had caused when he went down to Egypt. And then he repeats what he did at the beginning in worshiping God at this altar.

Does that sound familiar? It sounds a lot like what Jesus will tell the church of Ephesus in Revelation. Remember from where you have fallen, repent and do your first works again. Remember, repent, repeat.

That's exactly what Abram does. He remembers the fellowship he had with God. And while he was trusting God, that was a much better place than Egypt. He repents of the unbelief and he goes back and does again what he did at the beginning.

Boy, what great counsel that is to us. Maybe tonight you have experienced a distance between you and God. And maybe you look back to a time when you had fellowship early in the morning with God. You got up early and read your Bible and you think, oh, it was so good.

It was so sweet. But over time, you have distanced yourself from that primary activity. You're not experiencing closeness anymore. Could it be that the Lord is calling some of us back to Bethel, back to the altar, repenting from whatever brought us away from that and caused that distance? It's unfortunate that some of us have to talk about our relationship with God in the past tense, not in the present tense. It's not like, man, is it great with God. I just love the fellowship. I love hanging out with God. God speaks to me. But, oh, I remember at one time way back when, but it's not like that anymore. And so what is the solution? You remember, you repent, and you repeat.

You do those first works again. So if you have stumbled like Abram, there's always an altar that is waiting for you to come back to. Verse 5, Lot also who went with Abram had flocks and herds and tents. So he also has a lot of stuff.

He's also very wealthy. Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. And the Canaanites and the Perizzites dwelt in the land.

So, though there's nothing wrong with wealth inherently, in and of itself, though that's okay, and sometimes God can even add that and bless you with it, here it becomes the source of the conflict. We have so much stuff. I have so much stuff.

You have so much stuff. We have so many animals. And the land that we're trying to share together just can't support it. So we have to split.

Or, you know, my herdsmen are going to hassle and harangue your herdsmen and the bickering is going to go back and forth. All over stuff. Stuff is interesting. We all have stuff. Some of us have more stuff than others. And I mean, we stuff our stuff in boxes. If you have ever moved, you know this principle.

You have stuff in boxes. You never get it out. You never look at it.

You never care about it. You don't even know you have it until you move and you look in the place you stuffed your stuff, and you go, huh, I have stuff. Now, if you have a family, a wife, a husband, children, they have their stuff. If you try to do something with their stuff, oh, will you get in trouble. Hey, that's my stuff. Yeah, but you haven't used that for like ten years, so it's my stuff. To do something with it or not do something with it. Leave my stuff alone. Now, the truth is, a lot of that stuff you won't see again until you move again. And it can become a source of conflict as it is here.

Something else. They're not alone in the land. It's not just their livestock that has to be supported by the land. It notices also that the Canaanites and the Perizzites, these two other groups, dwelt in the land.

So not only will my family and your family have a tough time being supported by the infrastructure of the land, there's other people around. But I think that the Holy Spirit is informing us of something else. Here there is a conflict between one group of God's people and another group of God's people, and the world is watching. The Canaanite and the Perizzite are watching Abram and Lot very, very carefully, and hearing the bickering, and hearing the arguments. And whenever the dirty laundry of the church gets aired in front of the world, the church is in a real mess. It's dangerous.

It's wrong. We always have to be careful who's watching, who's listening. Canaanites and Perizzites are all around, and they are looking, and they are listening. I heard about two women who worked in the same office. Both of them were Christians, and both of them worked by a window. And one of them said, I want you to keep that window closed. If you open the window, it gets so cold, I'm going to catch pneumonia. And the other lady said, I want you to open that window, because if you don't open that window, I get claustrophobic, and there's no circulation.

I'm going to die of suffocation. So they argue back and forth and back and forth with their Bibles on their desk, back and forth. One day, a gal from across the hall came over into their space, an unbeliever, after hearing this for a long time, said, I got an idea. Let's keep the window open until you die of pneumonia, and then we'll close the window so you can die of suffocation.

That'll be the solution. You can feel her pain. What made it worse is both of them claimed to be believers. Now, here is Abram, a man who has a covenant relationship with God, and simply by virtue of the relationship of uncle to nephew with Lot, he is also seen as one of God's people.

But from the story, you and I know differently. From the story, you know that Abram, though he's imperfect, is walking with God, while Lot doesn't seem to be walking with God at all. He seems to be walking not with God, but with Abram. For back in verse 1, it says, Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot went with him. Abram's obeying God. Abram's walking with God.

Lot is walking with Abram. He's tagging along. He's tagging along, but he has different appetites. He wants something else. He really wants what the world has to offer, which you will see in chapters 13 and 14. Two different men, two different sets of values, longing for two different things. So Abram said to Lot, Please, let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. Boy, that's a wise thing to say.

He's older, and he's wiser. I heard a story about Michelangelo and Raphael, two brilliant artists who were hired by the Vatican to beautify the Vatican with their art, and you can see it today. It's still there. It's magnificent. They worked in different parts of the building, both brilliant, both creative artists in their own right. However, over time, a rivalry began to break out between Michelangelo and Raphael, and this bitter rivalry resulted in, even when they would meet up, they wouldn't even talk to each other. The ironic thing, of course, is both of them were working, quote, for the glory of God, unquote, while all of Rome watched the rivalry between these two artisans working for the glory of God, not getting along.

So Abram just nips it in the butt. Hey, let there be no strife. I don't want to be a troublemaker. Man, I want to be a peacemaker. So look at the solution.

It's not the whole land before you. Please, separate from me. If you take the left, I'll go to the right. Or if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.

Isn't that beautiful? Hey, Lot, no bickering, man. No fighting.

We're brothers. There's more to unite us than there is to divide us. Therefore, in grace, you pick, man. You just take whatever you want, because whatever you don't want, I'll take that. You can choose that side, and I'll take that side. If you want that side, I'll take whatever you don't take.

It's a beautiful example of Philippians chapter 2, where Paul writes, Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each of us esteem others better than ourselves. And that's what Abram is doing with his nephew Lot. And it's going to pay off.

I want you to watch how it does. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, understanding Genesis is critical to understanding the rest of Scripture. And in his book, You Can Understand the Book of Genesis, Skip Heitzig helps you discover the meaning and message of this foundational book. Embark on an epic journey to where it all began so you can understand the amazing story of God's love and our redemption in Christ. You Can Understand the Book of Genesis is our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.

Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copies when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. Verse 10, and Lot lifted up his eyes. Notice that phrase. He's looking up. He lifts up his eyes and he looks and something's going to catch his view. And he saw all the plain of Jordan. That is the Jordan River Valley, which is beautiful.

There's underwater springs that feed vast miles of land for irrigation and growing things and the river itself that supports it. He lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah like the Garden of the Lord. Now notice this, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. And then Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan and Lot journeyed east and they separated from each other.

Lot looked up. And what did he see? He saw something that reminded him of Egypt. He reminded him of Egypt. In fact, it's even mentioned, it's like the land of Egypt.

He had come from a spell of being in Egypt at the Nile River Valley, which is very similar geographically, topographically to this Jordan plain. He had left Egypt, but he hadn't left it in his heart. He wants something that reminds him of that security blanket that he had while he was in Egypt. That's what he wanted.

So he chose that for himself. Now, it seems to me that Abram repented because he remembers, goes back to the altar, sacrifices to the Lord, that Abram repented, but that Lot simply returned back to the land. But he wants something that reminds him of Egypt. So here's the problem Abram has. You can take the boy out of Egypt, but you can't take Egypt out of the boy.

He wants what he left. He's a tag-along believer. Now, there's a lot of people like this. They're raised in church. They'll go to church because they've been raised in it and they tag along with their parents or they tag along with their wives or tag along with their husbands. But they really love the world. That's their preference. They love the world.

Their appetite is for the world. And you can't have both, James says in James chapter 4. Whoever is a friend of this world is the enemy of God.

You can't love the world and all of its security while loving the Lord and all that he has. And it polarizes both these men, Lot and his uncle Abram. And so it says Lot chose for himself all the plane of Jordan. Not like, you know, I'm just like a part of this plane. I want it all. That's the prettiest looking thing ever.

I want it all. And he chose it for himself and they separated from each other. Notice this. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan. Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.

And before you think, well, he didn't know how bad Sodom was, the next verse says, but the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord. Now we're getting a little insight into Lot. If I were to compare the two, even though I said Abram wasn't perfect, you have the choices of a wise man versus the choices of a worldly man. Abram, the wise man, learned his lesson from Egypt, been there, done that, I've repented. Lot, a worldly man, a worldly businessman, thinking of what is best for himself and best for his family.

Abram, on the other hand, instead of choosing for himself, is sort of saying, I trust your promises, God, and I'll let you choose for me. Lot lifts up his eyes and sees the plain of Jordan and goes, oh, but now watch this. The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, lift up your eyes now and look from the place where you are, northward, southward, eastward, westward, for all the land which you see, I give you and your descendants forever, and I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.

Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you. Very different from Lot. I think Lot was flirting with temptation.

He pitched his tent all the way towards the bowl. I love this plain of Jordan and Sodom, you know, a lot of stuff going on in Sodom, a nightlife, a nightlife. He was flirting with temptation. He should have been fleeing from temptation.

A lot of people flee from temptation, but they leave the devil their forwarding address, if you know what I mean. They don't really separate all the way. Lot and Abram separate. That's good for Abram. It's bad for Lot.

Lot does it for the wrong reason. Now, as far as Abram concerned, it's good for him, and here's why. Back in chapter 12, we're informed that while Abram was down in Ur of the Chaldees before he made that long trek toward the Holy Land, that God said, get out of your country, leave your family and your father's house. He didn't completely obey. He still brought those with him, father and nephew, social responsibility, I understand, but it was an incomplete obedience, and it will bring trouble as time goes on, and we're about to see that, but it was a problem for Lot. Notice again verse 14. The Lord said to Abram after Lot had separated, lift up your eyes now and look from the place where you are northward, southward, eastward, and westward. You see, Lot looked out and saw what the world had to offer. God comes along and says, let me lift up your eyes and let me show you what I have to offer. So one chose for himself. The other left it up to God and discovered when you let God choose for you, it's always better anyway. What God will choose for me is better than anything I could choose for myself. And so I love that, that his faith, his trust, his leaning toward God is rewarded here. Hey, I know he lifted up his eyes, but now let me lift up your eyes and look everywhere you see. You see north, yeah, wow, clear day, beautiful.

You see down south, west, and east, it's all yours, and it's better than anything you could choose for yourself. Now did you notice that in verse 15, Lot is now separated, that God talks about your descendants forever? Wait a minute, didn't we just read in chapter 11 that Sarai couldn't have any children? What descendants? Embedded in this promise is the promise that he's going to have a child, that he's going to have an heir, and the heir will be from his own seed, from his own body, hence the word descendants. So God gives him a promise, number one, you're going to have children. You're going to have descendants. Number two, the covenant of the land that I'm giving to you is everlasting, it's perpetual. It's not just you, you and your descendants which become the Jewish nation forever.

And number three part of the promise, verse 16, and I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, they will be innumerable, so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through the length, through the width, for I give it to you. Now in a few months, I'm going to have the opportunity to do this with some of you, to walk in this land, and we'll do a lot of walking, we'll be on our feet a lot, because there's so much in the Bible about walking through the promised land and walking on the walls of Jerusalem. It's such a small country, you know, it's the size of New Jersey, maybe a little smaller, that you could actually walk across from border to border, east to west, in one day. You could walk the entire width of Israel today in one day, by foot.

In fact, in grade school, they do that with the kids in Israel. They go on a hike, and they walk from morning until night, they walk through the whole border of the land. Now, north to south, it's quite a bit longer, but that's okay, and I'm not saying I'm going to make you walk in one day through the whole land, but you're thinking, I don't want to go on this tour. We'll be in an air-conditioned tour bus, but we'll be able to cover a lot of ground and look north and look south and look west and look east and see what God promised Abraham and his descendants, and we'll see the fulfillment of the promise, it will absolutely blow your mind.

So, that's my pitch for take the tour, come with us. And Abram moved his tent and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, that's down in Hebron, not far from Jerusalem, oh, it says so, which are in Hebron and dwelt and altered there to the Lord. So, they separated. For a lot, a bad thing. For Abram, a good thing.

A good thing. You and I in the New Testament are called to be separated from those who are not walking with the Lord. And probably one of the keynote scriptures along those lines is 2 Corinthians 6, where Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah and says to God's people, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, and I will receive you.

And I will be a father to you and you will be my children. It's that call to separation. For, you see, sometimes if we have the wrong company and they don't share a spiritual value system and they don't hunger after the Lord, they hunger after Sodom and they hunger after the well water plain of the Jordan, it could drag you down. It's hard to be around the company of people who are dragging you down spiritually. And so the Bible encourages us to get around those who will build you up spiritually and to use discernment and discretion and to separate. Let me read something to you. I found it while I was studying. You don't have to turn to it.

I'll just tell you where it's at. It's in 2 Timothy chapter 2, but it's a beautiful scripture that says, Flee also youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, notice this, with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Be with people like-minded who love Jesus, who love the Lord, who pursue him, and your own faith will be built up.

If you're only around people who are dragging the other direction, they'll drag you in that direction. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will take you back to where it all began so you can understand all of God's word more clearly.

Pastor Skip's book, You Can Understand the Book of Genesis is our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copies when you give $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888.

That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from Pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox? Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.